The Hon. (Dr.) Susil Ranasinghe - Deputy Minister of Land and Irrigation
On behalf of the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation, the Deputy Minister answered questions on the Debara Ara feeder canal, stating that construction began in 2008 with an initial estimate of Rs. 67.58 million under the Lower Uva Medium and Minor Scale Irrigation Development Project, with procurement procedures followed. He named the four contractors and said the Department of Irrigation supervised the staged works, with excavated rock and soil reused for related irrigation and service-road purposes. He stated that although water had been delivered to the Debara Ara reservoir, the 6.5 km deep canal has silted due to rainfall, reduced demand and non-use of the upstream reach, requiring a special allocation for maintenance. He added that water is currently supplied to nearby fields, two minor tanks and about 200 acres of highlands, and that plans are in place to desilt the canal before the next rainy season.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, on behalf of the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation, I provide the following answers.
¶ 02 (a) (i) Construction work on the Debara Ara feeder canal commenced in 2008. (ii) The initial estimate was Rs. 67.58 million. (iii) Funds were allocated under the Lower Uva Medium and Minor Scale Irrigation Development Project, and construction of the canal commenced under that allocation. (iv) Proper procurement procedures were followed.
¶ 03 (b) (i) Under the Department of Irrigation, works were primarily executed through four contractors. (ii) Construction of the Debara Ara Project was carried out in stages in 2008. The contractors were: - PGS Enterprises - R.J. Constructions - Bishan Enterprises - K.M.B. Constructions
¶ 04 Supervision: Department of Irrigation.
¶ 05 (iii) Rocks excavated from the canal were stacked along both banks. Thereafter they were also used for Chawwala development under the Uma Oya Project, and for works carried out by the Wellawaya Divisional Irrigation Engineer’s Office for the paddy service schemes of the Department of Agrarian Development at Thembu Ara, Galwewa and Katagalar Ara. The removed soil was mounded and thinned along the banks to form the canal-side service road. (iv) The canal route was constructed and water was delivered to the Debara Ara reservoir. However, due to high rainfall in recent years, reduced irrigation demand, and non-use of the full upstream reach, sediment has deposited and the canal has silted up. As it is a deep canal of about 6.5 km, maintenance under normal allocations is difficult; it requires a special allocation. At present, water is supplied on both sides to BBS fields and to two minor tanks: Mudiyanse Wewa and Inum Ara. Using fuel and solar-powered pumping, about 200 acres of highlands receive irrigation for subsidiary crops such as finger millet, banana, green gram and cowpea. Plans have been prepared to remove silt and ensure delivery of water up to the Debara Ara reservoir before the next rainy season.
¶ 06 (c) Not applicable in view of the above answers.
Provenance
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- Hansard, Friday, 22 August 2025 ·No. 1756894696039492 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. (Dr.) Susil Ranasinghe - Deputy Minister of Land and Irrigation. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 22 August 2025. No. 1756894696039492. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/22289